Course Syllabus

HUM 1020- Introduction to Humanities

CRN- 21229 Spring Term 2022

East Campus

Online course

Course Description:

This course is an introduction to Humanities that focuses on central concepts, historical developments, and the nature of philosophy, architecture, music, religion, and art. Concepts from these disciplines will be integrated with contemporary culture. There is no prerequisite for this course.

Textbook:

• You do NOT need to purchase a textbook for this class.—All required reading will be found in the modules on Canvas.

Contact Information:

AZufari1@valenciacollege.edu

Email is the best way to get a hold of me.

Please include CRN #21229 in the subject line of your emails.

Office phone: 407-582-2349 For your privacy, I will respond to your voicemail with an email. In your message, please leave me your full name and CRN number.

Office Hours:

Office: East Campus: Building 1, Room 348

I check my emails frequently. You can expect a reply from me within 3 hrs Mon-Fri from 8am-5pm.

I will respond to emails received over the weekend Monday mornings.

Chat or zoom sessions can be scheduled individually according to students’ needs.

You can expect a more rapid response from me during my set online hours that are dedicated to student engagement: Monday- Friday, 2:00-4:00 pm.

Course Policies:

• January 20 is the No show” deadline. You must complete the required assignment indicated in the Orientation Module before then, or you will be dropped from the course as a “No Show.”
• Preparing for an online course: Students taking an online course should be equipped with reliable access to a computer and the internet. There are laptops and tablets you can borrow from the Valencia Library if at any time during the semester you need an alternative computer.
• Please see the links in the “Learning and Technical Resources” Module to help you become familiar with Canvas and online courses.
• The Professor cannot help with technical issues and is not responsible for technical problems..
• Technical problems should be resolved with the help of the Canvas Help Desk or the Academic Success Center.
• Technical problems are NOT considered an excuse for missing a deadline.
• Deadline Policy: Work submitted late will receive a late penalty.
• Your score will be deducted by 1% every hour it is late, meaning that you have up to 100 hours to submit work and receive any credit. After 100 hours, you will receive a zero.
• I will not make exceptions and remove late penalties— I believe they are unfair because everyone has reasons for submitting late work, and choosing which reasons are valid is very hard to do without being unfair.
• Extra credit assignments are available to allow students to make up for missed points due to illness, family emergencies, or other uncontrollable circumstances.
• In case of illness: If you are unable to participate in the course due to illness, family emergency, etc., please communicate with me as soon as possible in order to create a plan to complete any missed assignments so that your learning can progress in your course. In the case of a prolonged online absence, please communicate with me as soon as possible in order to create a plan for the best course of action.
• Interrupted Quizzes: Occasionally it happens that the internet server fails, Canvas experiences an error, or your computer simply freezes. If I receive your email during office hours before the deadline has expired, I can try to help you.
• It is students’ responsibility to take into account that technical problems happen regularly, and to take your quizzes and exams plenty of time before the deadline.
• Students are required to take responsibility for knowing and following Valencia College’s policies and this course’s policies
• Academic integrity is absolutely maintained in this course. Students who violate the policy will receive a Zero that assignment and may be referred for disciplinary action. Violations include the following:
• Sharing answers with another classmate on any assignment, quiz, exam, paper, or discussion post. Sharing questions—exam and/or quiz questions with other students.
• Copying information from your textbook, book, or the Internet, even if it is “just an assignment.”
• Plagiarism
• Using others’ work as your own.
• Sharing quiz or exam questions with others.
• Communication with Professor: Valencia faculty communicate with students through Valencia e-mail. Please email me at AZufari1@valenciacollege.edu. You can email me through Canvas as well, but you will likely get a faster response through your Valencia email.
• Please use professional standards and etiquette. Emails should include a greeting and be respectful in tone.
• Copyrighted Material: All materials provided online are copyrighted and made available for educational purposes only. Students September not reproduce copyrighted material without permission from the appropriate publisher or author.
• Discussion Etiquette: Please refrain from making any disparaging or disrespectful comments about any participant in the course or about anyone’s work.

Grading Policy:

Your grade for the course will be based on the points earned on the assignments given during the semester. The general point allotment is the following:

Quizzes 10-25 points each

Discussions 20 points each

Exams 100 points each

In your grades section on Canvas, you can find all of your scores as well as a current average of all graded submissions. This way, you have access to your grade at all times.

Your work in this course will be evaluated with the following general guidelines:

• “A” Work: the student has mastered the material of the course and has demonstrated critical thinking skills and originality.
• “B” Work: the student has demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of the material and demonstrates use of critical thinking.
• “C” Work: the student has demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of the material and a small degree of critical thinking.
• “D” Work: the student has demonstrated a marginal understanding of the basic material with little evidence of critical thinking.
• “F” Work: the student has not demonstrated a satisfactory understanding of the basic material and/or shows no evidence of critical thinking.

Quizzes

Quizzes include questions from the learning units within the module. You are required to follow the course and college’s academic integrity policy which includes: you may not work collaboratively with anyone and you may not share online, in person, electronically or in any other way questions from the course. Once you open a quiz, you must complete it. You may not log out then log back in to finish the quiz.

Discussions:

Discussions will be one of the ways in which we will fulfill the Gordon Rule that requires multiple college-level writing assignments. For this reason, your discussion posts should be edited and polished to meet college-level writing standards.

Our discussions will relate to the topic we are studying and posted on the discussion boards on Canvas. Your original post must be at least 300 words, thoughtful, thorough, and edited. AND you are required to respond thoughtfully in a manner that enriches the discussion to AT LEAST THREE of your classmates’ postings by the Discussion Response deadline.

Your entries are expected to be show that you are engaging the higher levels of thinking. Be sure that you provide explanation for your opinion and fully discuss the topic. Work that is put together by scanning through the Internet does not reflect college-level standards. The rubric used to assess your discussions is below

Criteria	Exemplary-Competent 5-4 points	Developing 3-2 points	Undeveloped/Incomplete 1-0 points
Mastery of the topic	Initial post demonstrates excellent understanding of course content and successfully address the question(s) posed.	Initial post displays some understanding of course materials and concept being discussed.	Initial post displays little understanding of course materials and underlying concept being discussed.
Reflections and Analysis	Student demonstrates strong critical thinking skills, presenting an original analysis that is well supported with specific points.	Student demonstrates adequate critical thinking skills, presenting an analysis that is not original and/or not well supported.	Student does not demonstrate critical thinking skills, presenting unoriginal and/or unsupported insights.
Quality of writing and proofreading	Written responses are free of grammatical, spelling or punctuation errors. The style of writing facilitates communication.	Written responses have little to no errors, the style of writing communicates adequately.	Written responses have numerous grammatical errors and does not communicate effectively.
Quality of Responses to classmates	Student responds to classmates with meaningful exchanges. Replies indicate that the student understood and thought about the statements of others and build upon the discussion adding new points to consider.	Responses to classmates' postings are valid, but brief and not enriching.	Responses to classmates' postings are either not given or are not thoughtful.

Exams

Exams will cover content from the modules and discussions. Exams must be completed once they are opened. You cannot save your work, exit, and then return to complete your exam.

You may NOT use notes, outside resources, while taking exams. Students are absolutely required to adhere to the course academic integrity policy.

There is no make-up policy for exams, and no late exams will be accepted.

Withdrawal Policy

Students who do not attend before the “No Show” deadline will be withdrawn from the course.

After the deadline, I do not withdraw students. It is the student’s responsibility to withdraw from the course if he or she feels he can not complete the requirements of the course. The withdrawal deadline for this semester is Friday, March 25

Students with Disabilities:

Students with disabilities who qualify for academic accommodations must provide a Notification to Instructor (NTI) form from the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) and discuss specific needs with the professor, during the first week of class. The Office for Students with Disabilities determines accommodations based on appropriate documentation of disabilities. For more information, the East Campus number is 407-582-2229

Taking Care of Your Mental Wellness:

Valencia College cares about making sure all our students have a rewarding and successful college experience. To that purpose, Valencia students can get immediate help with issues dealing with stress, anxiety, depression, adjustment difficulties, substance abuse, time management as well as relationship problems dealing with school, home or work. BayCare Behavioral Health Student Assistance Program (SAP) services are free to all Valencia students and available 24 hours a day by calling (800) 878-5470. Free face-to-face counseling is also available in the Advising & Counseling Department.